Open Monumentendag 2018

Bricked-up window in the tower remains
at Pieter Pourbusstraat 3.

Het Tolhuis, Jan Van Eyckplein

Lovely design, curving from ground to roof,

to mark the separation/joint of two houses.

Pieter Pourbusstraat 3 exterior.

Open Monumentendag was great in the last two Septembers, but this year, somehow for me, it didn’t quite hit the same spot. Partly because several of the houses could not be entered and partly because the commentary by the guides was long [40 minutes to 60] and obviously in Dutch. Previous years I was lucky in that the guides would add a few comments in English or explain something to me, at the end. Last Saturday, the group did, in fact, go into the Tolhuis in Jan Van Eyckplein for quite a long time but alas, it just looked like the former library it had been, with empty shelves and medieval traces either boarded up or otherwise absent. I have often longed to see inside the Tolhuis but my romantic imagination was thwarted, not to say, disappointed, when eventually I did go in. The building at Pieter Pourbusstraat 3 was beautifully preserved and the wonderful relic of the early mediaeval wall and the half-round tower in that wall, was visible to us in the garden of Number 3 but, alas, no entry into the building itself.

Biezenstraat 16 showing the lovely little 

mediaeval tower. Modern extension should

not have been allowed using anything except

old bricks!

The one building which I did love and would have so appreciated entry to, was at Biezenstraat 16 which had a lovely little tower,[Torre van Londen], deemed too risky for entry by the public.[Damned ‘elf ‘n’ safety’ again!] The whole building was charming and had, apparently, a beautiful mediaeval fireplace inside the house itself. Owners are afraid of theft from visiting groups understandably but entries to Open Monumentendag properties should surely be normally unrestricted. The information booklet on the properties open, is a delight for the Dutch speaker. Tantalisingly I can understand little of the detailed potted individual histories but many are really professional historical essays and provide excellent mementoes of pockets of Brugge’s history.

An oil painting of Oosterlingenplein by 

Antoon L Joostens, 1820=1886, Now 

called Woensdagmarkt. The tower on 

'my' bulding is in the background.

Anyway, at Biezenstraaat, for the last showing of the weekend, there were two guides so I was very lucky. One guide took round all the Belgians while the other, with excellent English, took me round the garden filling in some of the history since its foundation as the Heester van Gerard de Groote in 1449-50. Heester from the old French ester or aistre, refers to a site outside and around a house, perhaps like a small estate. Gerard de Groote was a schepen [alderman] in Brugge in 1449, 1453, 1458, 1461, 1463 and 1481. He was Burgemeester in 1466 and raadslid [councillor] in 1479 and 1485. Clearly, an important man who, interestingly for me, had some connections between 1462 and 1476 with the Oosterlingen [those from the East, Germans, probably merchants] which may have involved conflict. The area where I live, now called Woensdagmarkt, is in the old Hanse area and a street leading to it is still called Oosterlingenstraat.

The Hanseatic League was a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in North Western and Central Europe. It was established to protect the guilds’ economic interests and diplomatic privileges in their affiliated cities and countries. Generally, an area for trading in each city was established and in Brugge, the Oosterlingenplein was the designated Hanse area. Almost certainly there were periods of some conflict between Bruggean merchants and the Hanse hence the likelihood that Gerard de Groote was involved in some dispute. The fact that Gerard’s beautiful little tower is still intact in his former garden somehow brings the mediaeval life of Brugge almost within reach.

Merchant Vessels of the Hanseatic League by

Antoon L.Joostens 1820-1886

Flag on vessel depicts 2-headed eagle with red/white shield

on its breast which is the coat of arms of Lubeck described as

the Queen City of the Hanseatic League.

and a street leading to Woensdagmarkt is still called Oosterlingenplein.

The Hanseatic League was a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in North Western and Central Europe. It was established to protect the guilds’ economic interests and diplomatic privileges in their affiliated cities and countries. Generally, an area for trading in each city was established and in Brugge, the Oosterlingenplein was the designated Hanse area. Almost certainly there were periods of some conflict between Bruggean merchants and the Hanse hence the likelihood that Gerard de Groote was involved in some dispute. The fact that Gerard’s beautiful little tower is still intact in his former garden somehow brings the mediaeval life of Brugge almost within reach.

Merchant Vessels of Hanseatic League

Flag on ship showing 2-headed eagle with red/white shield

on its breast, bears the coat of arms of Lubeck,

described as the Queen City of the League.